In the Feb. 10 edition of the Sunday Rutland Herald and Times Argus, Stephen Cable claims he and his "internationally recognized experts" base their arguments against same-sex marriage on a "wealth of social science research." I've listened to the "experts'" talks and read their Powerpoints and perused Cable's Vermont Marriage Advisory Council Web site. Neither the experts nor the research ever compares same-sex marriage to heterosexual marriage. Instead, they show the benefits to children of being raised by two legally married parents. It looks to me like all that research actually supports gay and lesbian couples who want to marry so their children will have greater security.

The Vermont Marriage Advisory Council repeats the lie that there are no reliable studies of same-sex parenting. The American Psychological Association, which cites some dozen peer-reviewed studies, concludes its 2004 review as follows: "Results of social science research have failed to confirm any of these concerns about children of lesbian and gay parents. Overall, results of research suggest that the development, adjustment, and well-being of children with lesbian and gay parents do not differ markedly from that of children with heterosexual parents." (Sexual Orientation, Parents, and Children http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbc/policy/parents.html)

A survey of research commissioned by the Canadian Department of Justice comes to the same conclusion: "The strongest conclusion that can be drawn from the empirical literature is that the vast majority of studies show that children living with two mothers and children living with a mother and father have the same levels of social competence. A few studies suggest that children with two lesbian mothers may have marginally better social competence than children in traditional nuclear families, even fewer studies show the opposite, and most studies fail to find any differences." (Department of Justice, Canada, "Children's Development of Social Competence Across Family Types" http://www.samesexmarriage.ca/docs/JusticeChildDevelopment.pdf)

Cable claims, ominously, that "in the few places where genderless (he means same-sex) marriage has been legalized such as the Netherlands disturbing evidence is emerging that societal harm follows."

Since there is no mention of the Netherlands on the VMAC Web site, I can only assume this is a reference to the supposed decline in straight marriages in countries that have allowed same-sex marriages.

That claim has been refuted by scholars, who show that marriage was declining in those countries well before same-sex marriage was allowed. Economist M.V. Lee Badgett's conclusion: "Overall, there is no evidence that giving partnership rights to same-sex couples had any impact on heterosexual marriage in Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands." (M.V. Lee Badgett, Ph.D., "Will Providing Marriage Rights to Same-Sex Couples Undermine Heterosexual Marriage? Evidence from Scandinavia and the Netherlands" http://www.freedomtomarry.org/pdfs/ScanNeth.pdf)

Or perhaps Cable is thinking of the even more ridiculous abuse of a study of young men with HIV in the Netherlands to show that the average gay marriage lasts one and a half years? (http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/Articles/000,003.htm)

I also find it ironic that Cable argues that we should follow France (not usually the conservatives' favorite culture) in denying adoption and reproductive technology to gay and lesbian couples. That horse is out of the barn: Second parent adoptions for same-sex couples have been allowed in Vermont since 1991, well before the Baker decision.

Vermont was the first state to statutorily allow second parent adoptions in 1995 (15A 1-102) – in fact, that was one of the reasons the justices ruled as they did in Baker.

The Europeans still have a problem with gay men and lesbians raising children. Most Americans don't. I do agree with Cable on one thing: Vermonters should look beyond the blustery smokescreens and take a calm, rational look at the facts of the arguments at hand. I have no doubt their conclusion will then be support for full marriage rights for all Vermonters.

Kevin Moss is professor of Russian and Women's and Gender Studies at Middlebury College.